Policies & Guidelines

Privacy Policy

The Victoria Division of Family Practice has a Privacy Policy in place to ensure the personal information entrusted to it is kept secure and confidential.

Accountability for Personal Information: The Victoria Division of Family Practice is responsible for personal information under its control and has designated an individual who is accountable for compliance with established privacy principles. All Board and Staff members have been oriented to and follow our Privacy Policy and Protocols. The Division has contractual agreements in place that ensure that third parties protect personal information as well. Identifying Purposes for Personal Information: The Victoria Division of Family Practice identifies the reason for collecting personal information before or at the time of collection. The need for the information is clearly documented and only information with an identified purpose is collected. Processes are in place to review requests for the collection of personal information.

Consent for the Collection, Use or Disclosure of Personal Information: The Victoria Division of Family Practice ensures that consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information is obtained. The Division does not disclose personal information for purposes secondary to the identified purposes for which it was collected. Consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of information is not a condition for service unless the information is required to fulfill a specified and legitimate purpose. The Division informs individuals of their right to withdraw consent.

Limiting Collection of Personal Information: The Victoria Division of Family Practice limits the collection of personal information to that which is necessary for the purposes identified. Information is collected by fair and lawful means.

Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention of Personal Information: The Victoria Division of Family Practice does not use or disclose information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the informed consent of individuals or as required by law. Personal information will be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of these purposes. Limitations on the use of information are communicated to persons who require access to it. Personal information that is no longer required is safely and securely destroyed.

Accuracy of Personal Information: The Victoria Division of Family Practice is responsible for ensuring that personal information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date for the purposes for which it was collected, and takes steps to update information as required.

Safeguards for Personal Information: The Victoria Division of Family Practice ensures personal information is protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, to guard against loss or theft and unauthorized access, disclosure, use, or modification.

Openness about the Management of Personal Information: The Victoria Division of Family Practice makes information available about its policies and practices related to the management of personal information, including making available the contact information for the person responsible for the Division Privacy Policy and Protocols.

Individual Access to Personal Information: The Victoria Division of Family Practice makes available the personal information it holds about an individual upon request and provides access at no cost. Where the Division is unable to provide full access to an individual’s request for information, the reasons for limiting access are stated in a specific, reasonable, and justifiable manner. The Division informs individuals of what personal information it holds and provides opportunities for an individual to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.

Challenging Compliance: An individual has the ability to challenge the Division’s compliance with these principles by contacting the designated individual accountable for the organization’s compliance.

Disclaimer

The policy described above applies to the work and activities of the Victoria Division of Family Practice only. Aspects of this website are the purview of the Provincial Divisions Office and are covered by their policies.

Questions

For more information or to view a full version of the Victoria Division of Family Practice Privacy Policy and Protocols, please contact the Privacy Officer, Kristin Atwood, at [email protected].

Engagement and Consultation Policy Guidelines

The Division’s communication channels provide our members – family physicians in urban Greater Victoria – with news on opportunities, programs and service updates that help them care for their patients and support the VDFP mission to improve access to excellent patient care.

The Division currently uses these channels for member communication:

Website
NewsFlash newsletter
Pathways resource platform for physicians

The Board welcomes content submissions from our members, community partners and other stakeholders. It has tasked its Communications Committee to review all submissions and ensure they meet these criteria:

Direct benefit for local physician members (must be physician-centric, not patient-centric)
Free from pharmaceutical/industry funding or association.
Related to the VDFP vision and mission:
- Fostering physician engagement and professional fulfillment
- Influencing decisions that impact patients and primary care providers
- Partnering to facilitate an effective and sustainable healthcare system
- Improving access to excellent primary care
Research requests must be formally approved by a university research ethics board (confirmation required in submission form).
Submissions can include:
- Primary care research and engagement opportunities
- Job postings
- Teaching opportunities
- Information on events, clinics or services
- Educational opportunities and resources
- Soliciting representation for a committee or seeking member perspective*

* Note that in this informal capacity, individual members do not represent the VDFP view or endorse a particular position on behalf of the VDFP. If we are unable to post your submission, you may consider a mail out to all family physicians through an external direct mail provider.

How to submit news items

Please use our submission form [link to come] and craft your submission using this format:

A clear title that tells the reader why this matters to them and what you would like from them
A brief summary (3 sentences) that must include:
- Clear relevance/benefit to Victoria Division members. Again, why does this matter to them and what would you like from them?
- Clear indication of time commitment, deadline, or compensation/cost (when appropriate)
- A website link for more information such as contact information, or for the full article if applicable. This information will be shown when the readers click to view more information. (Unfortunately we are unable to process pdfs or non-digital submissions (fax, mail)).

Your submission will be reviewed by the Board’s Communications Committee. If it meets the criteria and we have space available, it will be published on the most appropriate channel(s). We may edit your submission for clarity, style or length. Please submit your item at least two weeks before the desired publication date.

If you have questions about your submission, please email [email protected] and we will get back to you.

How to submit other requests

Are you looking for VDFP feedback or endorsement?

Our Board meets once per month. Please request our review at [email protected] at least 30 days before you need the response. Note that we are unable to guarantee a full review.

Disclaimer:

While the VDFP is committed to educating and informing our membership about events/opportunities for them in primary care, we cannot guarantee access to our membership. We typically receive more submissions than we are able to publish and will review each request independently, in a timely fashion.

Purchase and Serving Alcohol Policy

As per the direction from the FPSC and Ministry of Health, Victoria Division of Family Practice will not use any funds provided through the Physician Master Agreement for purchasing alcohol. This includes all collaborative funds, the divisions’ infrastructure funds and any initiatives funded by joint committees.

Therefore, VDFP will not purchase, serve or supply alcohol at any meetings or events using funds as indicated in the paragraph above. If members choose to purchase an alcoholic beverage from the venue bar/lounge or consume alcohol purchased from any outside source they do so of their own volition and without the financial support of the VDFP. The Division does not accept liability for guests actions thereafter, following the consumption of alcohol.